Black Vault: A Useful Resource
September 23, 2019
The Black Vault is a news site covering intelligence, military, and related topics. DarkCyber wants to highlight the site’s Document Archive. The site states that Black Vault is
the largest privately run online repository of declassified government documents anywhere in the world. With more than 2 million pages of documents to read, on nearly every government secret imaginable.
The content comes via Freedom of Information Act requests.
Examples of documents available without charge include:
A collection of unsealed documents related to the Epstein matter.
Documents related to the US Army Nuclear and Chemical Agency. These date from the 1970s to the 1980s.
Information about metamaterials. These innovations are significant and point to interesting use cases for stealth applications.
The documents DarkCyber reviewed were in PDF format. Quality varied, which is not unusual for government archives.
The site contains discussion groups. This is a useful resource.
Stephen E Arnold, September 23, 2019
Quantum Wampum: Public Relations Output
September 23, 2019
Quantum computing generates PR wampum. Forget useful, cost effective, programmable computation. PR may be the true measure of quantum goodness.
Google modestly suggested that its wizards and wizardettes have achieve “quantum supremacy.” As I said, understated, tasteful. A Google-infused report explains that “Its quantum computer can solve tasks that are otherwise unsolvable.” CNet has the details.
IBM, not to be outdone, will roll out for your personal use a 53-qubit quantum computer in six or seven weeks. In fact, according to ExtremeTech:
The new 53-bit quantum computer will join the array of devices available through IBM’s Quantum Computation Center, which currently offers 10 quantum computers — five 20-qubit systems, one 14-qubit system, and four 5-qubit systems. Within a month, it’ll have 14 systems running, including the new 53-qubit machine.
And, IBM is positioning these devices as a “commercial” product / service.
Imagine. Cloud access to a quantum computer and an online ad vendor declaring itself the Big Dog in qubits. What’s next? More PR seems probable.
Stephen E Arnold, September 23, 2019
Enterprise Search: Two Interesting Assertions
September 23, 2019
Judging from the uptick in the estimates of the size of the enterprise search market, the “find documents” purveyors are generating public relations outputs.
Two items DarkCyber found interesting:
LucidWorks occupies a position of distinction. The company is the “sole visionary” in the enterprise search universe. According to “one of the world’s leading independent technology research and advisory firms,” LucidWorks — now check this wording — “LucidWorks believes its strong product offering and clear understanding of the needs of enterprise buyers in the Insight Engine market will enable the company to serve a wide variety of industries well into the future.” For more of this “alone at the top” razzmatazz, navigate to this Yahoo news item.
The second item is a bit more modest. Economic Times reported this fascinating factoid:
iQuanti is rapidly building its customer success and solutions teams in the region to activate its growth plans. Meanwhile, globally, iQuanti’s patented enterprise search channel platform ALPS was named the second-best search software in the U.S by the Drum Search Awards in 2018. ALPS uses proprietary data science and machine learning models to build predictive enterprise-level roadmaps that deliver strong ROI. iQuanti has also featured in the 2019 Inc. list of fastest-growing private companies in the US, for a record fifth time.
DarkCyber assumes that the top search engine is LucidWorks.
Now you know or maybe not.
Stephen E Arnold, September 23, 2019
Amazon Pricing Glitch?
September 22, 2019
A thread on YCombinator Hacker News presented a question from an Amazon cloud customer. The issue was a doubling of prices. The thread suggested that a glitch took place with different costs reported on the Billing * Cost Spend Summary and the AWS Cost Management Dashboard. Comments range from “AWS usage reporting is utter crap” to “I killed a bunch of service content and my cost STILL seems to be going up.” Glitch or some other factor? Interesting.
Stephen E Arnold, September 22, 2019
The Web at Risk
September 21, 2019
In early July 2019, Barry Adams spoke at the Nottingham Digital Summit. He held a lecture entitled “We Have Ruined The Web.” Instead of lambasting about the damage done, Adams proffered a solution to repair the Web. Hallam Internet shares Adams’s solution in the article, “We Have Ruined The Web! Let’s Try To Save It – Barry Adams, Polemic Digital – Nottingham Digital Summit.”
Instead of a feel good TED Talk, Adams runs down a short history of the World Wide Web and how key word rich anchor text with spammy links polluted digital marketing. The basic way to appear in the top of search results was to have a lot of links back linking to your Web site. Links are still important in SEO, but 84% of them are trash. Adams also claims that carousels and dark design patterns on Web sites are running the Web.
Marketers spend a lot of money on ads, but most of that money is wasted. The problem is marketers do not know which parts of their advertising budgets are wasted. Costs for mobile advertising are skyrocketing. Google is also shaping how accelerated mobile pages (AMP) rank and their loading speeds. Here is a hint: stay away from JavaScript.
“AMP means you have to play by Google’s rules, so people have mixed feelings about this, because while it can increase your page speeds, the web is essentially being shaped into what Google wants.Google has become a surveillance mechanism – it knows everything you do on the internet, from what you’re searching, to the sites you’ve visited, and what you’ve liked.
Hawthorne effect – as internet users, we know everything we do is being watched. This psychological effect makes us change our behavior because we know we’re being watched – we may even alter our behavior subconsciously. One of the worst offenders is Facebook – messages, likes… everything is being monitored, and has the potential to be leaked at any moment in time. However, if we act quickly, there’s a potential to save this – treat your customers as if they are precious, not just a commodity. Everything we do as marketers, we should do with customers at the front of our minds.”
Adams advocates for ethical design in Web sites that promote the human side of the Internet. Bots bad, humans good.
Adams touts bringing the humans back in advertising and Web pages. The human side, however, is still there, but it is covered up by bots and desire to make money. Is it time to say, “Farewell, open Internet”?
Whitney Grace, September 21, 2019
UK Wants To Know How Powerful Facebook And Google Ads Are
September 20, 2019
The United Kingdom recently blew the whistle on Facebook and Google, so they can understand how much advertising space both tech companies control. ZDNet reports on the situation in, “UK Watchdog Single Out Google, Facebook In Advertising Probe.” The UK is concerned that Google and Facebook dominate too much advertising space, squarely kicking the competition out of the ring. The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will launch a new market study about online platforms and digital advertising. The CMA wants to determine if Google and Facebook are harming UK consumers.
“The report will examine the potential risk factors and harm which could be impacting consumers today in the world of online advertising. The main areas CMA cites (.PDF) as worthy of investigation are:
- To what extent online platforms have market power in user-facing markets;
- Whether consumers are able and willing to control how data about them is used and collected by online platforms;
- Whether competition in the digital advertising market may be distorted by any market power held by platforms”
According to the article, about 50% of all UK advertising budgets are spent on digital advertising. Google and Facebook control the majority of the market, predicted to be 70% by 2020. With so many eyes focused on the two companies, both wield a lot of power. The CMA wants to ensure consumers know how Facebook and Google are using their personal information and if it poses risks to consumers.
The CMA also wants to prevent a dual monopoly, which would hamper economic growth and prevent new advertisers from entering the market. In regards to market dominance the CMA is investigating five points: ‘this includes methods to improve competition through open standards and data; means to lower the barriers to entry by competitors; ways to increase consumer data protection; and an examination of data consent rules to encourage a “fairness by design” architecture.’”
This is what government is supposed to do! The CMA is looking out for consumers and preventing monopolies that could potentially upend UK markets. The CMA wants Facebook and Google to be responsible for its actions which seems reasonable.
Whitney Grace, September 20, 2019
A DarkCyber Tip: Stay On Google’s Good Side
September 20, 2019
If your Web site does not appear in Google, it might as well not exist. Being in the top Google search results is key to your Web site’s success or failure, but how do you get in the top search results? The answer is: being on Google’s good side. Bit Rebels explains how to be on good terms with Google in the article, “How Important Is Getting On Google’s Good Side.”
You want to focus on getting in Google’s top search results, because 73% of all online searches are conducted via it. Google is the big guns when it comes to online search and if you get to the top of Google, then you will get to the top of the remaining search engines.
Being on the second, third, and fourth pages might appear to be an accomplishment, but humans have short attention spans and do not want to browse. Humans want instantaneous results, so that action involves a once over of the first page and clicking on a link.
Do not forget that SEO is an important part of high rankings:
“At this point, you probably have an idea what search engine optimization, SEO, is. In case you don’t, though, it’s the process of making your website more attractive to a search engine. When the popular search engine that is Google arranges results, it does so using specific criteria; relevance of the domain name to the search keywords, website speed and reliability, relevance of web content, popularity and several other factors.
We also noted:
What’s more, Google also takes into consideration how many clicks does your website often get. So, if it is a frequently visited website, it would automatically get bumped up the results page. Having said that, get ready to scoop the leftovers of your mind off the floor because we’re about to blow it to bit.”
To get on Google’s good side the formula is simple: create good content, concentrate on SEO, gets hits, and maybe invest in some online advertising?
Whitney Grace, September 20, 2019
YouTube: Will It Continue to Fancy Dance to the Editorial Control Be Bop?
September 20, 2019
Kids these days have ambitions of being astronauts, writers, scientists, and YouTubers. YouTubers are social media influences with mass followings that make decent livings through YouTube, mostly through ad revenue. YouTubers love and hate their platform of choice and it does not come as a surprise due to how controversial YouTube has become. The Guardian runs down YouTube’s recent headlines and spoke with YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki in the article, “YouTube’s Susan Wojcicki: ‘Where’s The Line Of Free Speech-Are You Removing Voices That Should Be Heard?’”
YouTube faces frequent scandals, involving its creators posting questionable content like hate speech, Holocaust deniers, etc. And there are those pedophiles who communicate in the comments of children’s videos or engage in code speak related to videos posted by a doting parent for digitally aware Silver Surfer.
YouTube made some progress with anti-hate speech policies to curb hate mongering videos and periodic takedowns. YouTube allegedly has a 10,000 alert, morally upright, dedicated human moderators working with smart software and systems able to the alleged five hundred hours of video posted every minute. Wojcicki seems to say her Googley unit cannot catch every instance of hate speech and questionable video, but they are trying and making a good effort at it.
The video streaming platform is one of the most popular ways Americans entertain themselves and generate money for the online ad giant. The problem is these scandals and bad actor videos that stain YouTube’s reputation, but does removing/banning them violate free speech:
“But hasn’t it been dangerously influential? [Wojcicki] pauses. ‘Look, [these question videos are] a very small percentage of our views, and the way that we think about it is: ‘Is this content violating one of our policies? Has it violated anything in terms of hate, harassment?’ If it has, we remove that content. We keep tightening and tightening the policies. We also get criticism, just to be clear, [about] where do you draw the lines of free speech and, if you draw it too tightly, are you removing voices of society that should be heard? We’re trying to strike a balance of enabling a broad set of voices, but also making sure that those voices play by a set of rules that are healthy conversations for society.’”
This particular write up adds a human dimension to the problem of hate speech and child abuse. Wojcicki’s life includes hobbies. (Imagine. A hard working Type A Googler having a hobby.) She is determined to leave a strong legacy and wants to influence more women to work in the technology industry. A good attitude is a plus when working for a company whose top lawyer makes headlines about personal behavior and the video content contains some darned awful data.
YouTube would have made a great MBA case study had not the market for MBAs imploded and free online classes demonstrated that MBA students go to school for contacts, not learning.
Nevertheless, a great case study awaits.
Whitney Grace, September 20, 2019
Oracle Is Streamlining Its Brands
September 19, 2019
When Apple rehired Steve Jobs to save the floundering company, Jobs returned to with a minimalist mentality. He told a shocked group of employees that instead of offering every type of Apple computer with bells, whistles, and ice-cream, there would be a limited number. From this limited number, consumers could choose which Apple worked for them and Apple would be able to concentrate on building the best product on the market. Oracle is taking a page from Jobs’s minimalist book, because ZDNet shares how, “Oracle Analytics: Honing 18+ Products Down To A Single Brand.”
Oracle is one of the most recognized and trusted names in business intelligence. The company has grown so much with products and acquisitions that its hard drive runneth over with names and brands. Oracle rebranded its BI and data analytics with the Oracle Analytics moniker. Oracle is now run by Bruno Aziza and T.K. Anand, both worked in Microsoft’s BI department. They described Oracle Analytics as three pillars:
“Oracle Analytics Cloud will encompass all stand-alone cloud analytics and will serve as the flagship offering
Oracle Analytics Server encompasses all stand-alone on-premises analytics, and is essentially a reboot of OBIEE
Oracle Analytics for Fusion Applications will cover analytics in service of Oracle’s many business applications”
The rebranding will encompass classic analytics and new features, particularly taking advantage of natural language processing. There is a new integrated user experience with self-service data discovery, reporting, fancy dashboards, and multi-device usage.
Oracle promises to bring the same, reliable service, except better and more intuitive for BI enterprises. Oracle spoke about NLP, but did not say much about AI or machine learning. There is probably some AI in Oracle Analytics, but the rebranding has kept any new developments for a later announcement.
Whitney Grace, September 19, 2019
Emailing Phishing: Yes, It Works
September 19, 2019
Phishing scams aka spam are arguably the oldest Internet scam. One would think that after almost thirty years with the Internet and email, people would have wised up to phishing scams, but no. People still fall for them and ZDNet has an article that explains why, “Phishing Emails: Here’s Why We Are Still Getting Caught After All These Years.” Here is an interesting fact, phishing emails are actually the first stage in security and data hacks within the past few years.
Google blocks more than 100 million scam emails a day and 68% of the messages are new variations of ones already blocked. What is even more interesting is who the phishing campaigns target. Enterprise users are five times more likely than a regular Gmail user to be targeted, while education users are two times more likely, government workers are three times likely, and non-profits have a 3.8 more likelihood than regular consumers. The scams only last a certain length of time to avoid detection, sometimes they last hours or only a few minutes. The scams mask themselves:
“While bulk phishing campaigns only last for 13 hours, more focused attacks are even more short lived; what Google terms as a ’boutique campaign’ — something aimed at just a few individuals in a company — lasts just seven minutes. In half of all phishing campaigns, the email pretends to have come from the email provider, in a quarter it claims to be from a cloud services provider; after that it’s most likely masquerading as a message from a financial services company or ecommerce site.”
An even scarier fact is that 45% of the Internet does not understand phishing scams. The phishing bad actors play on the naiveté and use psychological tricks, such as urgency and fear, to get people to comply.
People need to wise up and be aware of Internet scams and phishing attacks. Be aware that a reputable company will never ask for your password and always check the email address to see if it appears suspicious. If it has lot of numbers and letters and does not come from the company’s official domain, it is a scam.
Whitney Grace, September 19, 2019
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